Dallas Mavericks Blog

Containing LaMarcus Aldridge? The Mavericks haven’t done it very often

The Mavericks found out last week that local-product-made-good LaMarcus Aldridge is so good that, even if you cover him pretty well sometimes, he’s going to beat you.

He stuck that 18-foot jumper over Brandan Wright’s outstretched arm at the buzzer last Tuesday for a Portland win because he was allowed to get to his favorite spot on the floor. Give him the ball there, and he’s going to make that shot a lot more than he’s going to miss it.

So when he comes into American Airlines Center tonight, what do the Mavericks have to do to slow him down from the outrageous production Aldridge has had against them in two meetings this season (24.5 points, 10 rebounds and two buzzer-beating game-winners)? Or for that matter, hold him below his career 21.6-point average against them, higher than he owns against any other team except Detroit?

“We got to take away his open looks and keep him off the boards,” coach Rick Carlisle said this morning. “The two or three times he got putbacks, once or twice there was a dribble penetration that took a body off of him, which allowed him to get to the rebound. Doing a better job on the perimeter helps those things.

“In situations where we have to help on (point guard Damian) Lillard on pick and rolls, we got to get to Aldridge quicker, and make sure he doesn’t have open looks, because he’s pretty automatic when he’s open.”

And even when he’s not, sometimes.

Aldridge has been pretty darn good ever since he was at Seagoville High School. He wasn’t bad at Texas, either.

But as a pro, his stock has risen steadily to the point where he’s a full-fledged all-star year in and year out.

And Carlisle said it’s not always as easy as just trying to push Aldridge off the 10-to-18 foot spot that he likes to back into, turn around and shoot over people from.

“He’s a great player,” Carlisle said. “Great players have a lot of spots they like on the court. We got to keep bodies on him. We got to make sure we’re blocking him off the boards and know where he is when he pick-and-pops.

“And in situations where we have to double-team, we have to scramble out because when you double-team him and he passes it out, he does a good job of finding nooks and crannies to go offensive rebound. He’s one of those really high-level players that can hurt you in a lot of different ways.”

The other thing with the Blazers is that they have five starters who can help Aldridge _ Lillard, Wes Matthews, Nicolas Batum and J.J. Hickson.

Their bench remains a mystery from night to night, even for coach Terry Stotts. It will be up to the Mavericks to exploit that advantage.